There's a good reason "Sex and Gasoline" ranks as Crowell's most accomplished and satisfying album since 2001's justly acclaimed "The Houston Kid." In both instances, the veteran Texas singer-songwriter completed an entire album, then discarded it and began the whole process anew, only this time in Los Angeles instead of Nashville, Tenn.

"I recorded it, mixed it and listened to it, and I didn't like it," said Crowell of the album he shelved before "Sex and Gasoline" became a reality.

"It wasn't the right record," he continued. "It was too predictable. My tricks were glaring at me. I started to revisit sonic landscapes I'd already seen."

Crowell realized he needed a skilled outsider's input to get back on track. He teamed with fellow singer-songwriter Joe Henry, equally noted as both a solo artist and as the producer of standout albums for Solomon Burke, Ani DiFranco, Bettye LaVette, Loudon Wainwright III, Aimee Mann and Teddy Thompson.

"Besides being a great producer, Joe is a fantastic conversationalist," Crowell said of Henry, who is also Madonna's brother-in-law.

Eleven songs strong, "Sex and Gasoline" reaffirms Crowell's position as a heartland troubadour who confronts in song issues few other performers are willing to tackle. With unusual insight and sensitivity, the album examines sexual politics and the distorted images of young women perpetuated by Madison Avenue and many facets of pop culture.

As a father of four daughters, these are issues Crowell finds especially compelling.

"I dare say I'm the first songwriter I know of to mention the outward manifestations of bulimia in a song," he said from his Nashville home. "Advertising is almost entirely sexually driven, and popular culture says if you're not long-legged, (wear) a size 0, look like Paris Hilton and maybe have your own porno film, you're not the feminine ideal.

"Well, what about intelligent, witty girls who are a size 8?"

Crowell rose to prominence in the mid-1970s as a member of Emmylou Harris' talent-rich Hot Band. His debut solo album, 1977's "Ain't Living Long Like This" landed with a thud.

Yet, while it sold fewer than 30,000 copies, the album yielded several chart-topping songs for other artists, most notably "I Ain't Livin' Long Like This" for Waylon Jennings, "Voila, An American Dream" for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" for The Oak Ridge Boys.

"Common sense says that the songs I wrote were the best thing about what I had going then," said Crowell, who became a chart-topper in his own right with 1988's "Diamonds and Dirt," the fifth of his 13 solo albums.

"I certainly am a far superior singer at this time than I was in 1977. I know that. I didn't like the way I sounded then. I kind of like the way I sound now. About 10 years ago, I said: 'Man, I'm sounding pretty good. Up until then, it was like; 'I sound like a flint rock.'

"I'm far more dedicated to my work now than I was as a younger man, and I derive a lot more satisfaction from doing good work.

"In the earlier days of my songwriting, it was: 'Well is this good enough to get me a girl?' Now, it's: 'Is this as good as I can really get?' And if it is, I'll get me a girl!"

To find out more about George Varga and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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